[Localization] Euro contributions Re: More translations needed?

[Clytie Siddall]

Hello everyone :)

On 15/06/2008, at 11:51 PM, Yama Ploskonka wrote (in part)

> Localization is going to be a big issue in any case.  I was rather
> concerned when seeing the IADB numbers how little was earmarked for
> content for you guys, and that little got reduced even further in the
> March document.  The only way to bridge this, in my opinion, is to
> involve the community, and for that to develop a more user friendly UI
> for localization than Pootle.  I have no solution really.

Pootle is widely used offline for translate-a-thons and other  
community translation tasks. It was initially designed for use by  
third-world communities. How do you think it needs to change to become  
more user-friendly?

The Pootle devs are keen to improve their interface, so I think  
there's no need to invent new tools, but rather to adapt the existing  
ones to suit the situation. Other offline programs like Kabel [1],  
Pootling [2] or LFE [3] are already pretty easy-to-use.

By the way, as a teacher and community-project officer myself, I think  
you need to empower the teachers first. Make sure they understand the  
opportunities they have, and how those tools are going to help them  
achieve more of their goals.

I have often seen excellent advances in teaching tools either mis-used  
or ignored, because teachers don't understand them, or haven't got  
time to learn how to use them properly. Let's avoid that trap, by  
involving teachers in the planning phases, and making sure they have  
enough time and help to get the most out of what we offer.

In some countries, too, we will have to overcome very stilted teaching  
methods (rote learning, chalk and talk), so we need to allow time and  
effort for awareness-raising and learning very new ideas/practices.  
This time and effort always pays off enormously, because you are  
opening the door to further independent learning, and teaching people  
how to work together.

from Clytie

Vietnamese Free Software Translation Team
http://vnoss.net/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=projects:l10n

[1] http://kbabel.kde.org/
Windows and Linux

[2] http://www.khmeros.info/drupal/?q=en/download/Translation_Editor
Windows and Linux

[3] http://www.triplespin.com/en/products/locfactoryeditor.html
OSX
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